Learn About Madagascar's Biodiversity and Landscapes

by Edwin Torres, age 12

There is a country off the coast of Africa with many national parks, plants, and animals that can’t be found anywhere else in the world: Madagascar. When Madagascar separated from Africa about 165 million years ago, plants and animals developed differently because they were on an island and lacked interactions with other species.

In the western part of Madagascar lies a national park named Tsingy National Reserve of Bemarha. Here, limestone points, a type of rock composed of animal shells, rise 100 feet into the air above an area of 60 square miles. While these features are intriguing, residents state that there is a lack of safe flat land to walk around the rocks.

South of the national park lies Morondova. There, rain falls for four months a year. Six species of baobab trees grow in this place. The trees have adapted to the weather conditions of Madagascar by absorbing water during the rainy season and then surviving on the reserves for about eight months until it rains again. In other areas, baobab forests are in danger due to human population growth, and the forests are hard to fix once damaged. In addition, animals damage the forests as well. One animal in particular is the giant jumping rat. They live in western Madagascar and eat the seedlings of the baobab trees.

Many of Madagascar’s species of orchid expand in the Montagne d’Ambre National Park in northern Madagascar. Yet, not all of the island is green, as cases of wildfires and deforestation have increased. On the shoreline, rivers turn red with clay that slips off hills formerly covered in vegetation.

Some plants and animals only live in Madagascar and can’t be found anywhere else around the world, making this island country even more unique.

[Source: 100 Great Wonders of the World]